Hi Eli,

This involves a bit of re-imagining your holiday.  Wheely Wonderful Cycling are based near Ludlow (direct trains from Cardiff, then a taxi journey), and offer bike hire as well as luggage transfer etc: Lon Las Cymru | Cycling Holidays | Wheely Wonderful Cycling.  Prices include accommodation bookings,

Route preferences are personal, but for me the mid-Wales itinerary is much more scenic than your present plan.

One word of warning: whether you stick to the coast or head inland, expect steep gradients!  My wife and I managed 20% pitches, just about, but had to give best when it got up to 25%.  Don't want to put you off, though, it isn't all like that, and it's great country - should be a memorable adventure for a teenage daughter.

All the best,

Mark

I would buy a tandem off eBay.uk locally in Wales then get a shop to set it up and then tour via Travel Lodge, Premier Inn, or book ad hoc local guest houses from the internet. Don't use a booking site as they are full of scammers!

Ian Brown

Firstly - great choice of country to visit. In planning your route, make sure that you look at maps with enough detail to show enough of the contours - there are lots. It may often be best to plan your route around river valleys - the Gwy (Wye), Tywi, Teifi, Ystwyth, Dyfi, Mawddach, Hafren(Severn), Dyfrydwy (Dee) etc. rather than go across the grain of the country. Starting from Ludlow, as suggested above, could take you into the beauties and peace of mid-Wales fairly easily.

Nearly all trains in the UK are difficult over tandems - as far as I know only Avanti West Coast  (London to Glasgow and Edinburgh) and possibly LNER will take tandems intact. I don't know about separable tandems - even they may be difficult. I suppose van hire might be a way of transporting a tandem, if you could arrange somewhere secure to leave it while you tour or use one-way hires.

If you could hire a tandem in Inverness, you could ride across to Gairloch in a couple of days, and the northern Highlands are also a great part of the world, though most of the routes are main roads.

Good luck.

 

There are new bike carriages on the Heart of Wales line! Said to be tandem friendly too! I can't paste link for some reason but Google it.

Thanks for all the advice folks. 

The warning of steep gradients is noted.  And Mark, I will look to see how possible it is to move my tour to mid-Wales.  I am not ready to do the Wheely Wonderful package, but I am softening up as I try to otherwise sort out my route and planning.  Thanks for the link.  

Ian, I did think of buying a Tandem and then leaving it after the trip.  I just have to find one in Wales, else the transport is still an issue.  Would you tell me more about the Travel Lodge, Premier Inn or booking ad hoc?  Those seem to be specific hotel chains that you recommend?  

Edmund, great advice, and I did not know about the Heart of Wales line.  I am having a little difficulty seeing the "current" availablilty of tandem travel on that route.  It looks like the route is Swansea to Shrewsbury, but there are other stops on either side of these towns on the time table, notably in Cardiff as well as on the other side, beyond Shrewsbury.  When including one of these outlier cities it didn't appear that tandem travel was possible (by the linked info page).  Within the heart of the heart of Wales route - Llanwrtyd and environs - bike space was not allowed at all.  Actually, often it says that seats themselves cannot be reserved.  I have send a request to the HoW Whatsapp link.  

Thanks again.  

Eli

In Albuquerque, NM, USA

Short update:

Heart of Wales is still bringing trains online.  Until then, no reservations are possible. (Maybe by summer?)  Additionally, there is some line "engineering" in May.  For that reason there is a "Bus" symbol in the booking form, suggesting that some (unidentified) portion of the route would be accomplished by bus transport.  (I doubt one could bring a tandem on a bus.) The Whatsapp contact eventually resulted in some communication. 

Eli

It's been a 4 year project and I am coming close to the end (another year maybe??), but I have mapped an awful lot of rides all over the UK onto the bespoke rides database that is a member benefit of the Tandem Club. These are published routes, researched and published so liable to be reliable. By showing the tracks you can join them up. Each Icon (the green tandem) can be clicked on to give to the GPX file, local information, maps, description and the source. You need to join the club for £15/year though

So for example clicking on the middle icon on the south coast gives you details of the Swiss Valley Trail. Within is the GPX, source brochure and loys of icons marking tea shops, places of interest etc

The red lines are other cycle routes, you could create a lovely circular ride

Wow Neil.  That is very cool! 

I am working through the "Help" page which is full of good information.  One quick questions; although the icons are colour coded, does the colour coding for the actual tracks/routes have any significance?  I am guessing that the colouring is just to distinguish nearby/adjacent routes from one another and does NOT relate to length, climbing, difficulty or any other characteristic of a ride. 

Eli

 

Hello Eli

How are your arrangements coming on? 
Have you organised a tandem yet?

if not, I could lend you ours. I it would depend upon your heights. I could also lend you a bike trailer for luggage if needed, and fit you up with a decent U  lock. 

if you're prepared to come to Birkenhead to collect it, that is. We are just across the river from Liverpool, about 15 miles from the Welsh border, We could probably launch you at somewhere in North Wales, and even collect you and bring you back. The tandem fits in our van, so it's not a problem. I'm 5' 11 /  1.78M and the stoker position is good from about 10 years to adult. It's a British 531 steel frame, with 21 gears, bar-end shifters and a drag brake. It has front and rear pannier racks, and we could lend you some bags to fit if needed.

The picture shows the bike set up for my daughter, Astrid, on a camping trip. Since then we've put the original seat post and saddle back in for the stoker.  [We can also supply toy rabbits if needed!]

i know you were planning on starting in Cardiff, but let me know if this is of any use at all. You're welcome to stay overnight with us if that helps any.

regards

Neil & Laura Frowe

Thank you Neil and Laura.

That is a stunningly generous offer.  You are so kind. 

My planning is a little all over the place.  My best option had been renting a tandem in Burbage (using Fat Llama) and dead-heading (single riding?) it to meet up with my daughter in Bristol or Cardiff.  Then we would head north through the Marches and explore central Wales.  I would dead-head the tandem back at the end. 

I did consider Liverpool (my son attended John Moores for one year in the pandemic) but haven't reconsidered that option.  

As far as fit goes, I think I would be stretched, but possibly could fit:  I'm 1.76M.  It looks like that saddle is about as low as it can go. What is the stand over for the Captain?  Or the bottom bracket center to current or fully dropped saddle?  My daughter is 1.68M so that part looks good. (I could figure out the fit from any of those measurements.)

In any event, thank you so much.  I'm going to think through this new opportunity and see what might work.  I would have to get use to: Left sided drive train, left sided brake likely being the rear, and, of course, left sided road driving, I think the British steel and the velveteen rabbit comfort is universal. 

All the Best

Eli

I warmly recommend Lon Las Cymru - a great ride.

Hello Eli

The stand over height is 32"

Ground to tip of saddle is 39", and saddle to centre bottom bracket is 27". The saddle will go down 1" max. 
It has an adjustable stem, but I find the reach OK as is. Picture shows me 'snug' on the crossbar to allow stoker to mount. Quite stable and a nice wide stance. Comfortable for me. 
 

Cockpit shot shows bar-end shifters. Friction shifter is for drag brake. We moved it to pilot when children were too little to operate it.  Right hand front / left hand rear brake seen looking forward from saddle. Klik-fit bracket and computer. 

Hello Eli

The stand over height is 32"

Ground to tip of saddle is 39", and saddle to centre bottom bracket is 27". The saddle will go down 1" max. 
It has an adjustable stem, but I find the reach OK as is. Picture shows me 'snug' on the crossbar to allow stoker to mount. Quite stable and a nice wide stance. Comfortable for me. 
 

Cockpit shot shows bar-end shifters. Friction shifter is for drag brake. We moved it to pilot when children were too little to operate it.  Right hand front / left hand rear brake seen looking forward from saddle. Klik-fit bracket and computer. 

Here's the standover picture:

That looks great, Neil.  I can fit that.  

Coincidentally, the rental through Fat Llama just fell through.  The fellow in Burbage just messaged me this morning that his tandem was stolen.  (What kind of a thief steals a vintage - Dawes Double Edge - tandem?!)

I am excited to re imagine the trip.  With a shove off from Birkenhead/Liverpool the North and Central Wales is open to us.  Sheila recommended Lon Las Cymru.  That ride looks beautiful but may be more ambitious than we can handle.  Still, I appreciate the recommendations people are making.  

Eli

In Albuquerque, NM USA

and Piia in Utrecht

 

Hello Eli and Piia

If you need to reshape your travel plans you can rely on us to collect you from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, or Lime Street Station, or even Manchester Airport. I don't know where you are flying to, but Liverpool is an easy onward destination. If you are coming from Cardiff you can also get to Chester, which is another easy pick up for us. 

I mentioned that we have pannier bags, bike lock, toolkit etc so don't worry about bringing those with you, (unless you want to!)   We also have 2 decent adult bike helmets which seem to fit everybody!

Starting from this end, you could do a lot worse than Llangollen, Oswestry, Shrewsbury , Ironbridge Gorge, Ludlow etc. 

Let me know what you decide and we'll help it happen for you. 

Piia, are you Torgesons of Finnish extraction by any chance? The double i in Piia is quite distinctive!

Regards,

Neil & Laura Frowe